The Case of the Lazy Lion
From his seat in the big circus tent, Encyclopedia Brown had a good view of the acts in the center ring.
“I think these are our best seats yet,” said Chief Brown.
“They’re certainly the closest,” said Mrs. Brown.
Every year, the Browns drove into town to see the circus. The owner, Phineas Dailey, was an old friend of the Chief’s, and he never failed to send them tickets. The Browns, in turn, were always delighted to attend. The circus wasn’t about tricks, the Chief liked to say. It was about skill, daring, and showmanship.
Encyclopedia agreed. He marveled at the motorcycle bikers who were riding inside a giant metal sphere without crashing into each other. He held his breath watching the trapeze artists somersaulting through the air. His lips felt hot when the fire swallow-ers closed their lips to cut off the air to the flames.
Only the lion tamer seemed a little bit off today. He could not get his lion, Felix the Ferocious, to do much of anything. He snapped his whip; he shouted into his megaphone—nothing seemed to help. The lion just lay there, casually flipping his tail from side to side.
The crowd tittered. The ringmaster came out with a wheelbarrow filled with steaks that he pushed to the lion tamer’s side. The lion tamer threw several steaks to the lion, who didn’t seem to notice. The whole audience was laughing now. The ringmaster shrugged broadly. Then he ushered the lion and the lion tamer out of the spotlight and hurriedly brought in a troupe of performing seals.
When the show was over, Phineas Dailey came in search of the Browns.
“An excellent show as usual,” Chief Brown told him.
“We thoroughly enjoyed it,” Mrs. Brown added.
“Especially the lion act,” said Encyclopedia. “It was very funny. I didn’t expect that at all.”
“You weren’t the only one,” Mr. Dailey replied.
Now that the crowd was filing out, the Browns could hear shouting behind one of the curtains.
Mr. Dailey looked at the Chief. “I wonder if you could do me a favor and investigate the constant quarreling between our ringmaster and our lion tamer. Nothing official, of course. If you could spare a few minutes . . .”
“Lead the way,” said Chief Brown.
The Browns followed Mr. Dailey backstage. It wasn’t hard to find the lion tamer and the ringmaster. They were still yelling at each other in a corner.
The lion tamer was red in the face. “It’s an outrage. It’s sabotage.”
“Nonsense,” snapped the ringmaster. “Don’t try to cover up your mistakes by playing innocent.”
“Mistakes?” sputtered the lion tamer. “You’re speaking to Majesto, the greatest lion tamer of our time. Perhaps of any time. Even the greatest, though, cannot work miracles with a drugged lion.”
The ringmaster snorted. “Drugged, hah! A lazy lion is more likely. Lazy because of your poor training.”
“Hold on a second,” said Mr. Dailey. “Gentlemen, this is Chief Brown of Idaville and his family. The Chief’s a personal friend who happened to attend today’s performance. I’ve asked him to look into your, ah, disagreement.”
“There’s not much to look into,” said Majesto. “I’ve been dating Lola, the trapeze artist. Her old boyfriend, Cocoa the clown, isn’t very pleased about it. He must have drugged the lion sometime before the show started.”
“Assuming you’re right, when would he have had to do that?” asked Chief Brown.
“I would guess an hour before showtime.”
“Not possible,” the ringmaster stated. “Cocoa and the other clowns were practicing a new routine all morning, right up until the show started.”
Majesto frowned. “Then someone else is responsible. I have made a lot of enemies on my rise to the top.”
“Anyone in particular and nearby?” asked Chief Brown.
Majesto nodded. “It could have been Lola’s brother, Bruno.”
“He’s the circus strongman,” Mr. Dailey explained.
“Bruno’s never liked me,” the lion tamer said.
“You just can’t admit to your own mistakes,” said the ringmaster. “Inventing suspects doesn’t change the facts.” He turned to Mr. Dailey. “This act is really unacceptable, sir. I tried to cover up with that wheelbarrow of steaks.”
“Which I knew nothing about!” Majesto protested.
The ringmaster sneered. “Luckily for you the audience didn’t notice. If people think the show has mistakes, they’ll want their money back.”
Mr. Dailey turned to Chief Brown. “You see what I’m dealing with. We have to solve this mystery as soon as possible. Can you help?”
“What will help,” said the ringmaster, “is firing the lion tamer. This kind of behavior cannot go unpunished. What if the lion returns to being a dangerous animal because of poor training? What if it happens in the middle of a performance?”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Majesto. “Felix would never do that.”
“Just like Felix would never be lazy,” retorted the ringmaster.
“You wouldn’t dare say that if Felix were standing here!” said Majesto.
“Why not?” said the ringmaster. “Should I be afraid he would eat me? After all, he did turn down the steaks.”
“Hold on,” said Chief Brown. “We probably should talk to Bruno and then we’ll see.”
The ringmaster snorted. “It’s a waste of time. We all know who’s guilty.”
“Maybe not,” says Encyclopedia. “After all, at the circus not everything is as it appears to be.”
WHO DOES ENCYCLOPEDIA SUSPECT?
(Turn to page 82 for the solution to “The Case of the Lazy Lion.”)
